Volunteers with Count US IN were found at two locations in Warsaw on Tuesday to not only encourage people to vote but to also defend people’s right to vote.
Count US IN is an Indiana-based movement whose mission is to uplift the voice of citizens and foster more inclusive and equitable political participation by encouraging a larger, more diverse voter turnout, according to information provided at the booth outside of the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion on Election Day.
Eddie Harmon, a volunteer with Count US IN as part of the Election Defenders out of Fort Wayne, said they cover four counties and had eight locations as of Tuesday.
“We’re just trying to keep the chaos down and basically protecting democracy as far as making sure that people are able to vote peacefully without any intruders coming in and trying to cause any ruckus or dismay to the vote,” he said.
Besides the pavilion, there were Election Defenders posted outside the Community Life Center on Harrison Street, 825 N. Harrison St., Warsaw.
“They just gave us locations and the team leads picked out where they would like to set up at and this is one of the locations that I set up at, and our other team lead set up there (at Community Life Center),” Harmon said.
Count US IN’s booth had to be at least 50 feet away from any voting center. Harmon said Count US IN monitors the polling location from the outside and lets the poll workers do their job inside.
“We’re just making sure that the line outside is just running smoothly, and just trying to bring peace and joy and snacks to people while they wait and things like that,” he said.
The election line at the pavilion extended outside of the building almost all day.
“It’s just kind of started dying down,” Harmon said at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. “It was long earlier. About 6 o’clock this morning, it was out here to the pole and the whole parking lot was filled. And then it died down.”
About 10 a.m., he said the line built back up, but starting dying back down after lunch time.
Count US IN volunteers were scheduled to be at the sites until the polls closed at 6 p.m.
Harmon said he volunteered with Count US IN “just to help out the community and make sure that democracy is met. To make sure people can vote in peace.”
He said it had been very peaceful at the pavilion all day. Outside of the wind, it was a pretty nice day.
Goals of Count US IN are to educate and inform the community why it is important to participate in voting and politics and how those systems work; to empower and give tools to increase voter turnout and political participation, especially of minorities and marginalized communities; and to provide leadership and professional development opportunities for the community.
Count US IN is a nonprofit organization. Their website is at Countusindiana.org and email is [email protected]. Donations can be made at every.org/countusindiana.